


Next Stop Everywhere!

by MarisaBelacqua



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28956147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarisaBelacqua/pseuds/MarisaBelacqua
Summary: Ok. I suck at summaries but here goes. The Cybermen are seemingly after River but when the TARDIS lands unexpectedly, will they both get out of the Cyberman ridden planet alive?
Relationships: The Doctor/River Song
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Next Stop Everywhere!

"You have been AGES!" River moaned as she flicked a switch on the TARDIS console, making it bump clumsily into flight.  
"Nice take-off," the Doctor replied, "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"  
"The good news, I guess. But first, where is the food you said you were getting, I am starving."  
"About that…."  
"You forgot, got side-tracked? We generally need to eat to survive! What's the good news? I could do with some round about now."  
"We're being followed."  
"And how is that good news?"  
"Okay, the bad news should have been the worse news and the good news should have been the bad news but I always like to look on the bright side."  
"So, what's the worse news?" River asked sarcastically.  
"They're after you."  
"Brilliant, so what do you propose we do?"  
"Run?"  
"That's always your plan and you are terrible at it, we need something that is going to work."  
"Don't dis the plan!" protested the Doctor.  
"Who are we being followed by?"  
"Ummm…"  
"Doctor, if you're not telling me it's bound to be something dangerous so now I'm expecting it you'd better tell me."  
"Cybermen" the Doctor said in a barely audible whisper.  
"Oh, of all the aliens" River groaned, "Why are they after me? What did I ever do to them?"  
"Shot them probably," said the Doctor, ducking to avoid River's hand which narrowly missed her face.  
"Oi! It's not my fault they're after you, what did you do?"  
"Nothing to my knowledge. Unless it's something I haven't done yet."  
"Ugh, this is why time travel is so complicated."  
The TARDIS console pinged loudly, interrupting their conversation."Ooooh a message, nobody ever sends me messages!"   
The Doctor pressed a few buttons and instead of the message being read out, the TARDIS landed making a loud crashing sound.   
"I think we've landed," River said as she walked over to the door.  
"Wait-" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late, River was outside and the sight that met her eyes was not one she wanted to see.

The TARDIS doors slammed shut and it was suddenly in flight, blowing the Doctor backwards with the force of the take-off. She ran to the control deck and tried desperately to land the TARDIS again but it was no good, she wasn't in control, some invisible force was dragging her away from the one person who needed her most. The person who had just stepped out into the clutches of the cybermen.

Meanwhile, River was surprisingly alone and alive, she had been guided to a room by a cyberman and been told to wait, which she was doing with increasing boredom. What or who she was waiting for, she didn't know.

The Doctor sat down on the floor of the TARDIS and pondered what to do next. She felt a little pulse of energy coming from the pocket of her trousers. Shocked, she dug around a found: a custard cream, a paperclip and her psychic paper. Deciding the energy pulse had probably come from the psychic paper, she flipped it open. There was a single sentence written on the paper. I could use some assistance… x  
Typical River, not directly asking for help but giving her exact location in the process. The Doctor picked herself up from the floor, put on her favourite fez and set the psychic paper on the TARDIS console. The TARDIS took off smoothly, following the coordinates that the message was sent from.   
"Come on, come on," the Doctor muttered under her breath. She had never known the TARDIS to take so long to reach its destination.  
After twenty painful minutes of pacing the console room the Doctor ran to the door as the TARDIS landed. Cautiously, she eased it open and peered out. Nobody was there. Deciding it was safe to exit, she ran towards the corner of the room but in her hurry, she failed to see the floor, or rather, the space where the floor should have been. Down she fell, landing awkwardly on the stone slabs, around ten feet below. Out cold, she was lifted up and transported to a locked, windowless room. When she awoke, her hand went to her pocket; miraculously, her sonic and her psychic paper were still there. Pulling them both out she scanned the area with her sonic. Mixed signals, none that she wanted to see. Life signs to her left, Cybermen to her right. She decided that life signs were her only hope of finding River - if she was still alive - so she made her way to the left and found a locked door. Opening it with her sonic, she crept into the room. She was faced with a set of stairs - a very easy way out. What's the catch? She thought as she tentatively put her foot on the first stair.   
Making it up the stairs unharmed, she found herself in another room, similar to the one she had landed in a few minutes earlier. It seemed to be safe enough so she sat down to examine her left arm, which had presumably taken the full force of her fall. It was hanging at an awkward angle and was starting to get quite painful. She could fix it later, her main priority was to find River and get them both out of here. Finding River was easier than she thought but getting them out would be a harder job.   
River was in the next room along from the one the Doctor was in and when the Doctor pushed open the adjoining door she gasped and ran to her. River was lying motionless on the floor, thankfully breathing but covered in cuts and bruises. The Doctor rolled River over and picked her up off the floor, kissing her forehead. She came round enough to stand. Completely oblivious to the ever-growing pain in her left arm she helped River up another flight of stairs and pulled open another door. Facing them now was the TARDIS, blue as ever but there was a problem. Not only was there the issue of the non-existent floor, there were three Cybermen guarding it. There was no way she could take them on alone. She looked down at River - now unconscious again and decided her best chance of staying alive for now was to retreat and wait.  
While she was waiting, she kept herself busy by fixing her arm, now quite painful from supporting River, and cleaning River's cuts.   
River awoke suddenly, crying out into the darkness. The Doctor ran over to her and gave her a gentle hug.  
"Can you stand?" she asked, putting her arm around her to help her to her feet.  
River flinched but managed to stay on her feet.  
"Where are we?" she asked.   
"A cybership I suppose," the Doctor replied, "There are cybermen guarding the TARDIS and I don't know what to do,"  
"Asking me for advice, this is new,"  
"What do you mean?" the Doctor smiled jokingly.  
"Leave the cybermen to me, you get to the TARDIS, I can get out of here with my vortex if I have to."  
"I'm not leaving you," the Doctor said stubbornly, not taking her arm from around River's shoulders.  
"Oh, honestly, I'm fine!" she protested, easing her shoulders out of the Doctor's grip.   
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid." the Doctor said seriously to River.  
"Me? No." River smiled, turned on her heel and walked - slightly unsteadily - through the door.  
"Oi, Cybermen! Over here!" she yelled as she waltzed into the room, stopping at the edge of the space where the floor should have been, separating her from the Cybermen.  
"They turned clumsily, stepped forward and fell, down the space between them in the floor, landing with several thuds many feet below.  
"Now that was brilliant!" remarked the Doctor, putting her arm around River once more and kissing her on the cheek.  
"Cybermen aren't the steadiest of aliens," she replied, laughing, "Just one problem, how are we going to get across?"  
"Ah… umm, I didn't think of that,"  
"Well it's lucky I did,"   
She took her sonic screwdriver out of her pocket and looked at River.  
"This won't hurt," she assured her as she plucked a particularly bouncy curl from River's head.  
"Ow! What was that for?" she protested.  
"Rope," the Doctor replied as if it needed no further explanation. She pointed her sonic screwdriver at the hair now residing in her hand and it grew to more than triple it's usual size. Raising her sonic up to the ceiling, she secured the rope to a piece of rock.  
"Wow, I didn't think that would work," the Doctor remarked.  
"Honestly, neither did I!" River laughed and tugged the rope to see if it was secure.  
"What? You don't trust my sonic's knot tying?"  
"No sweetie, I just don't particularly want to fall to my death."   
As an afterthought before she jumped, she asked, "Exactly how strong is hair?"  
"One strand can hold about 100g but I soniced it to make it stronger, it should be able to hold you."  
"What are you saying?" she smirked.  
"I'm saying you're going first," the Doctor laughed, "Here, TARDIS key, unlock it when you get over."  
Then, checking River was holding the hair rope tightly, she pushed her off the edge. She swung over to the TARDIS, landed gracefully on the slither of floor in front of it, slipped the key into the lock and stepped inside, swinging the rope back to the Doctor.   
The Doctor swung across slightly less gracefully, landing clumsily, tripping over her bootlaces and falling into River. They ended up in a muddled heap of arms and legs, laughing uncontrollably.  
"That's payback!" the Doctor smiled, picked herself up from the floor and walked over to the console.  
"For what?" River asked from her position on the floor.  
"All the times you've landed on me in the same way!"   
"Oh, all right then. Here, you'd better have this back," she said, throwing the TARDIS key back to the Doctor. Miraculously, she caught it but she didn't smile. She walked back over to River, offering her hand to help her up. When she released River's hand from her grip, the TARDIS key was back in River's hand.  
"Keep it," the Doctor smiled. River threw her arms around her, "So you using the TARDIS can't be classed as stealing it anymore," the Doctor said into River's hair.  
"So where to?" asked River, pulling back from the hug slightly so she could kiss the Doctor on the lips.  
"Anywhere you want," the Doctor replied, "do you want to fly her?"  
River stood, stunned, she hardly ever got to fly the TARDIS, even though she could.  
"Alright then!" she glided over to the console, spun the sand timer and looked at the Doctor.  
"Next stop, everywhere!" they grinned simultaneously and set off for a brand new and exciting destination.


End file.
